The List: 7 Dec 1990 (Issue 137)

to the creed of amoral violence seen in Mean Streets and Taxi Driver. Liotta plays Henry Hill. a real-life maﬁoso. while De Niro is his mentor in crime. And while the bullets. fists and carving knives ﬂy. Scorsese brings us back to that unavoidable question — yes. it‘s glamorous and lucrative to live this way. but can anyone really live with the consequences? Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Grosvenor. Edinburgh: Cannon. I The Guardian Angel Skyddsangeln ( 15) (Suzanne Ostman. Sweden. 1990) Philip Zanden. Bjorn Kjellman. Malin Ek. Lena Nylen. Gunilla Roor. 94 mins. With eight nominations for European Film Awards including Film OfThe Year. The Guardian Angel came out with only one prize — Supporting Actress OfThe Year. This was given to Malin Ek. but surprised no-one. since all three nominations in that category were for this film. The story concerns itselfwith the enigmatic bodyguard hired by an unpopular politician. who mysteriously charms the whole family. Glasgow: GF'T. I Hannah and tier Sisters ( 15) (Woody Allen. US. 1986) Mia Farrow. Michael Caine. Barbara Hershey. 107 mins. An achingly funny. insightful and wellcast celebration of some surprisingly upbeat romantic perambulations within a family circle as only Woody knows how.

Edinburgh: Cameo.

I Henry And June (18) (Philip Kaufman. US. 1990) Fred Ward. Uma Thurman. Maria dc Maderios. Richard E. Grant. 137 mins. The triangular relationship between the erotic writers Henry Miller and Anais Nin and Miller‘s wife June isthe backbone of this well mounted biopic. which suffers from the slightly incongruous explicitness of Kaufman's previous Unbearable Lighmess Of Being and the same uncomfortably slow pace. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Edinburgh: UCI.

I Home Alone (PG) (Chris Columbus. US. 1990) Macaulay Culkin. Joe Pcsci. Daniel Stern. John Heard. Catherine O‘Hara. 103 mins. Peter and Kate McCallister (Heard and O'Hara) have an eight-year- old brat, and wisely — albeit accidentally- leave him behind in Chicago when they go on holiday to Paris. Left to his own devices. young Kevin (Culkin) has to deal with two bungling burglars (Pesei and Stern) who threaten to invade his peaceful haven. And the interlopers have a fight on their hands. Jolly. ifsadistic. scare-comedy antics produced by teenﬂick veteran John Hughes and geared very obviously to the Christmas market. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Odeon. Edinburgh: Dominion. Odeon. UCI. Central: Allanpark. Strathclyde: Kelburne. Odeon Ayr.OdeonHami1ton. UCl Clydebank. UCl East Kilbride.

I The Hot Spot (18) (Dennis Hopper. US. 1990) Don Johnson. Virginia Madsen. Jennifer Connelly. 130 mins. See feature. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. I lntemal Ailairs (18) (Mike Figgis. US. 1990) Richard Gere. Andy Garcia. Nancy Travis. 105 mins. 1n the wake of his stylish homegrown debut Stormy Monday. British director Mike Figgis makes his Hollywood debut with this stylish thriller. Garcia is a quietly efficient cop working for the Internal Affairs Dept. of the LA police. who comes across damning evidence that respected street cop Gere is in fact up to his neck in corrupt activities. and before long the two are at loggerheads in a clash that is to get increasingly personal. Predictable but very ﬂashy cop fare with remarkably intense performances from the two central protagonists. Edinburgh: Cameo. IJaws 3-0 (15) (Joe Alves. US. 1983) Dernis Quaid. Bess Armstrong. Simon McCorkindale. Lea Thompson. 99 mins. Flogging a dead shark (and not for the last time). this was the one where they employed a medium-range star cast and a

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‘7.

The Match Factory Girl (15) (Ak Kaurismaki. Finland, 1990) Kati Outinen. Vesa Vierikko. With a permanently glum expression, Iris (Outinen) is one at liie's most obvious losers. At the match factory she stands and watches the boxes go by, while at home she drudges and cooks for her ungrateiul parents. At the dance she sits by the wall, drinks live bottles oi pop through a straw and doesn’t get asked onto the liner once. Then, when she finally manages to get herseli picked up in a bar, the man abandons her alter one night-and leaves her pregnant. Miserable day iollows miserable day until finally a serious response is called ior: she buys some rat poison.

From the Finnish director at Ariel and Leningrad Cowboys Go America, this hypnotic and precisely organised black comedy succeeds superbly by acute understatement. With dialogue virtually non-existent and 3 storyline

THE‘MATCH FACTORY GIRL

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whlch is skeletal in the extreme, Kaurismaki presents a succession oi ilat, achineg po-iaced scenes in which the idea oi a dull average tile is taken to absurd limits. Iris blithely puts on make up while the TV plays news iootage oi assorted momentous world events; she sits lmpassively in her brother’s ilat while his personal jukebox plays happy pop music over her head and bursts into tears while watching the Marx Brothers at the cinema. Her needs and the world at large don't connect at any point and in careiully conjuring this gull, Kaurismaki has made a movie overllowing with a sense of ordinarlness and repressed emotion. Try to imagine Taxl Driveriiltered through the old Janis lan song At Seventeen and you get an idea oi what’s going on here. A sad-eyed little treat. (Tom Tunney)

Glasgow: GFT7, 9—12 Dec.

long-ago nifty gimmick and sent 01' whitey and portions of his victims‘ anatomy ﬂoating out into the auditorium (where all the folks wear them wacky glasses). Quaid's money-spinning new aquarium on the Florida seaside is the setting. for anyone who‘s interested. Strathclyde: WMR Film Centre.

I Jean De Florelte (PG) (Claude Berri. France. 1986) Gerard Depardieu. Yves Montand. Daniel Auteuil. 121mins. Provence. during the 1920s Depardieu's indomitable hunchbaek struggles against impossible odds to make a success ofhis inherited farmland. unaware that his neighbours are plotting to drive him from his land. Beautifully photographed. with ﬂawless performances. this is a towering tribute to the highest aspirations ofFrench storytelling. A BAF'I‘A winner forthe film ofthe year. Edinburgh: Cameo.

Lance Henriksen. Morgan Freeman. 94 mins. So-ealled because ofhis facial deformation. Johnny ‘Handsome‘ Sedley is a small-time crook whose closest friend is killed by other members of the gang during an unsuccessful heist. Upon his release from jail. Johnny undergoes plastic surgery and emerges a new man in

the shape of Rourke. While falling in love for the first time. his task at hand isto track down and kill Barkin and Henriksen. who dispatched his buddy. A rather formulaic revenge ﬂick. but Hill makes good use of the New Orleans locations and has never forgotten how to put a good action scene together. Central: MaeRobert Arts Centre.

I Korczak (PG) (Andrzej Wajda. Poland. 1989) Wojtek Psoniak. Ewa Dalkowska. Piotr Kozlowski. Marzena Tryblala. 113 mins. The Polish master's tribute to the heroic Jewish doctor Janusz Korczak (a superb Psoniak) is a simply told and brutally honest portrait of a strong. decent but doomed man. Beginning in 1939. it chronicles the Holocaust years from the German occupation of Warsaw to Korczak‘s death in a concentration camp with pride. dignity and unsentimental sensitivity. Glasgow: GF'T.

I Labyrinth (PG) (Terry Jones. US. 1986) David Bowie. Jennifer Connelly. 101 mins. Teenage girl has her baby bruv kidnapped by demon Dave. the King Of The Goblins. and so has to enterthe fiendish labyrinth to get him back. Not had family feature. with plenty offurry creatures to keep the kids happy. Strathclyde: UCI East Kilbride.

I The Little Mermaid (U) (John Musker and Ron Clements. US. 1990) With the voices of Rene Auberjonois. Buddy Haekett. Kenneth Mars. 83 mins. Based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale. the latest Disney animated feature may not quite rank with the glories of Wall‘s distant past but displays an impressive attention to detail. bags of humour and a set of truly tacky songs. Our bikini-clad

I Manon Des Sources (PG) (Claude Berri. France/ltaly. 1986) Yves Montand. Daniel Auteuil. Emmanuelle Beart. 114 mins. Ten years after the demise ofJean de Florette. the Soubeyrans run a prosperous carnation farm. Jean‘s daughter has grown into an alluring young woman and sets out to wreak her revenge. Steering this epic rural saga towards the realms of Greek tragedy. this is a full and satisfying second half that explores the suffering of the guilty as they pay a crippling penance for man's greed and envy. The production values are as high as ever and Auteuil assumes Depardieu‘s mantle in his development from glaikit idiot to broken-hearted suitor. Edinburgh: Cameo.

I Midnight Express (18) (Alan Parker. UK. 1978) Brad Davis. John Hurt. Mike Kellin. 121 mins. Dealing economically with the truth this is still a riveting storyof the nightmare that befell American Billy Hayes when he was incarcerated in a hellish Turkish jail on a charge of drug-smuggling. Brutal. viscerally powerful filmmaking that won an Oscar for Oliver Stone‘s script. Edinburgh: Cameo.

a powerful thriller full ofgood intentions. ‘ and few mainstream directors would dare

even to try and bring such a ﬂammable subject to the screen. Strathclyde: Haldane Film Society.

I Mo' Better Blues ( l8) (Spike Lee. US. 1990) Denzel Washington. Spike Lee. Joic Lee. Cynda Williams. 130mins. Exubcrantly shot. enterprisineg designed and evocativer scored. Lee‘s jazz ﬂick scores on the incidentals but neglects the basics with a central storyline that moves at a snail‘s pace and was never that interesting in the first place. Denzel Washington is the self-absorbed trumpet star Bleek Gilliam. involved with both teacher Joie Lee and aspiring singer Williams while failing to notice manager Spike's gambling habit and the discord in